Holy Pentecost

Scripture Lesson for this week                                                 Holy Pentecost – Tone 7            

Epistle: Acts 2:1-11                                              Gospel: John 7:37-52, 8:12

 

Scripture Lesson for next week                                                   All Saints – Tone 8            

Epistle: Heb 11:33-12:2                  Gospel: Matt 10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30

 

BIRTHDAYS: Nikola Kabaivanoff (15), Dan Machar (17)

 

ANNIVERSARYS: George & Frances Petroff (13)

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  

·         Vespers:  Vespers will resume this Saturday, June 18^th.  

·         Pentecost: This week is a fast free week due to Pentecost. Feel free to eat all the meat you wish this Wednesday and Friday. J 

 

 

 The Feast of Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday, is always celebrated 50 days after Pascha, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word "pentecost" in Greek literally means "fifty." At Pentecost, the disciples received the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in the form of fiery tongues. This outpouring of the Spirit fulfilled the promise that Christ had made to His disciples while He was still with them. This Spirit was the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Comforter, who would lead them into the fullness of the Truth concerning God, and would be for them their primary gift from God for their ministry. As Orthodox Christians we each receive the seal of the Holy Spirit when we are chrismated into the Faith. This is our personal Pentecost. This feast reminds us of our apostolic calling as baptized and chrismated members of the Church—to spread the Gospel in word and deed wherever we happen to find ourselves in the world.

 

The main passage from the New Testament for this feast is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, which is read as the Epistle during the Divine Liturgy. The Gospel reading, taken from the words of Jesus which He spoke while the Jews were celebrating the feast of the Tabernacles, serves as a commentary on the Epistle. After summoning those who would follow Him and promising them the coming of the Holy Spirit, a debate ensued about Who Jesus really was. Was He a prophet? Was He the promised Messiah? Many in the crowd that day were hoping that He was the Messiah Who would lead them out of Roman occupation to political independence and freedom. However, Jesus Christ's mission was not one of political freedom fighter. He is God incarnate and brings freedom to liberate humanity from sin, the devil, and death. We are called to witness our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Master of our lives, in the midst of a world that may strongly disapprove and even persecute us for our convictions. Yet, we remain steadfast, praying that those who desire to know the Light will be brought to Him through the living light of the Gospel shining in our hearts, and will find in our words the living water of the Spirit.